The Astounding Wolf-Man vol. 1

Robert Kirkman is one of the few writers to have lighting strike twice when it comes to finding success with his creator-owned books.  I don’t think I need to say anything more about the success of “The Walking Dead,” and “Invincible” is still going strong at 75 issues and thirteen collections so far.  Not one to rest on his laurels, he has continued to come up with new ideas for ongoing series and “The Astounding Wolf-Man” was the first to debut after those two hit it big.  Now I’m coming into this series with the knowledge that it wrapped up recently after 25 issues.  That’s still an impressive number for any series to reach in the current market climate, but it never really attracted the buzz or recognition that his other series did.  I can see the reason for that after reading this volume, though I will be picking up the second at some point in the future.

In his introduction, Kirkman talks about how he wanted to come up with something simple with a premise that people could grasp just by looking at the cover.  So in case you thought that this was about something other than a werewolf superhero, then you thought wrong.  If you were also expecting to see Kirkman bend and twist superhero genre conventions to his will just like he does in “Invincible,” then you might have to wait a little longer for that.

The series kicks off with Gary Hampton, a successful business and family man, in the aftermath of being mauled by something.  He eventually recovers and finds out in short order that he was mauled by a werewolf and is now one himself.  After one of his moonlit excursions brings his condition to the attention of his wife and trusted subordinate, he’s visited by a man named Zechariah who knows about Gary’s condition and offers his help.  Being a vampire, the man knows a thing or two about the supernatural.

From there, we see Zechariah training Gary and telling him about the nature of his curse and helping him to control it.  Feeling that the best way to cope with his condition is to use his powers to fight crime, Gary gets an outfit (from someone who establishes that this is set in the “Invincible” universe) and sets about trying to make the best of his condition.  It’s not easy as he also has to deal with the reactions of his wife and daughter, troubles with his company and finances, other werewolves and the fact that he loses control of himself during nights with a full moon.  This last bit is the most troublesome as he winds up “killing” a member of a local superhero team.  It’s this act that gives the second half of the book its momentum and leads to more promising story developments later on down the road.

I say “more promising” because in going for a simple concept, Kirkman has also delivered a simple comic.  Everything that happens to Gary will seem quite familiar to anyone who has read superhero comics and there’s not a whole lot to distinguish this series as a result.  It’s still competently put together and I like Jason Howard’s art.  Kirkman talks about how the series came about as a result of his interactions with the artist, and he clearly knows what he’s doing here.  His style is bright and stylized, which leads to favorable comparisons to “Invincible” artist Ryan Ottley, and it makes for a nice contrast with the “dark” supernatural elements of the story.

It’s not until the end when Gary’s life completely falls apart that things start to get interesting.  Instead of a “werewolf who fights crime” series, it looks like we’re going to be getting something closer to a mix of “The Fugitive,” “Underworld” and of course “Invincible.”  I know I’ve mentioned that series a lot in this review, but there are a lot of comparisons to make.  The biggest being that “Invincible” really didn’t get going until vol. 3, and there appears to be a similar, but not nearly as long, curve at work here.  That’s why I’ll be picking up volume two.  As for whether or not I’ll be picking up volume three — you’ll know soon enough.